


look at me, all the things i can do

by Aelig



Series: Comfortember 2020 [24]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and the Outsiders (Comics), Batman and the Signal (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alfred Pennyworth is a Good Grandparent, Alfred Pennyworth is also sassy, Breakfast, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Cassandra Cain is Black Bat, Duke Thomas is Signal, Duke's dignity is gone, Earth-197, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Good Older Sibling Cassandra Cain, Good Sibling Duke Thomas, Guilt, Injury, RIP, School, Worried Parent Bruce Wayne, alfred pennyworth is a good parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelig/pseuds/Aelig
Summary: "Duke took a bite of his toast, gaze still on Bruce. His foster father was sipping at his coffee, eyebrows frowning. To an outsider, you would think he was reading the morning news on his tablet, like always; Duke knew better. Bruce's look was a little away from the screen, his lips downward.It was almost funny, to watch Bruce internally panic."OR: It's the morning, and Duke is going back to school for the first time since his injury.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain & Alfred Pennyworth, Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Duke Thomas, Duke Thomas & Bruce Wayne
Series: Comfortember 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996051
Comments: 11
Kudos: 144





	look at me, all the things i can do

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you're all okay :D
> 
> Today we have "going back to school/work"! I loved writing it :D
> 
> Thank so much to [Dottie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottie_wan_kenobi/pseuds/dottie_wan_kenobi) for being my beta, you precious bean :heart:

Duke was trying really hard not to glance at Bruce once again. The man was obviously stressed, which – which was kind of weird, considering _Duke_ was the one who should be stressing right now. But, well, he didn't have time to stress, Bruce was doing all the stressing for him.

He took a bite of his toast, gaze still on Bruce. His foster father was sipping at his coffee, eyebrows frowning. To an outsider, you would think he was reading the morning news on his tablet, like always; Duke knew better. Bruce's look was a little away from the screen, his lips downward.

It was almost funny, to watch Bruce internally panic.

Cass entered the kitchen. Alfred had already placed her cup of tea on the counter five minutes ago, and she took it immediately. Somehow, Alfred always knew when they were coming to eat. It was probably his secret-not-so-secret superpower.

Cass smiled at Duke. She kissed Bruce's cheek, and the man got past his stress lond enough to look over to his daughter. “Hello, sweetheart,” he greeted, and Cass simply waved.

She then came across the table and kissed Duke's cheek. He smiled at her, too. “Hey, Cass. Good morning.”

“Good morning, little brother.”

She sat beside him, and her gaze soon landed on his arm. His arm stuck in a cast.

Duke had broken his arm on patrol last week. He was still doing daytime patrols, and Black Bat would join him more than regularly, at this point. (Which, honestly, was awesome _and_ very fun, but how was Cass doing that? She could spend the day patrolling with him and the night patrolling with the others. Was she sleeping? Eating? He was concerned.) It had been a slow day when it happened; an attack. By _Condiment King of all people_. (Jason was _still_ making fun of him for that.) And, honestly, it's not like Condiment King was hard to arrest – no, Duke's downfall had been the _mayonnaise_. He was just on his way to help Cass when he _slipped_ on the _mayonnaise_ and fell. In _public_.

Screw Condiment King and his stupid gimmick. He was now Duke's least favorite Rogue. Forever.

So, Duke broke his arm... And it was his first serious injury since his first steps into the vigilante game.

He would have prefered something more glorious, but alas. You don't get to choose, apparently.

“Would you like some toast and bacon, Mistress Cassandra?” asked Alfred from where he was finishing cooking breakfast.

“Yes, please, Grandpa,” said Cass with a soft smile. Alfred's smile was just as soft when he looked at her.

Soon, his sister had a plate garnished with food in front of her, and Alfred placed a bowl of mixed fruits in front of Duke. “You need to have more balanced meals, my boy,” he told him before leaving, and Duke huffed in a typical teenager way.

And then proceed to eat the fruits, because he actually loved it.

“Are you ready for today?” finally asked Bruce – his brows were still frowned, the lines of his mouth making him look older than his age. He was visibly still stressing. Cass looked at her father with interest before an amused smile stretched her lips.

“Yeah, sure. No problem,” answered easily Duke because, as weird as it could be, he _was_.

It was his first day back to school since his injury. This supposed simple action was never easy, apparently – or so his siblings said, as they hovered over him constantly these last days like a bunch of mother hens. Duke had worked hard on his homework and made sure to not have any delay in his learning. He was confident he could make it without too much problem.

Bruce nodded. “And you know your cover story?”

Duke blinked. Yeah, he had forgotten about that. Like, not forgotten _forgotten_ , he knew the story, but it wasn't his principal concern. Should it be? “Yeah?”

“You don't seem sure.” Now, Bruce was playing nervously with his napkin, twitching the fabric between his fingers. “You _need_ to be sure, Duke.”

Duke couldn't help but sigh a little. “Yeah, I _know_ , Bruce.”

His foster father was ready to argue more on the subject when Cass interrupted him – bless her. “We're worried,” she stated simply. “Because of- CPS?” She looked over at her father, who nodded in approval. “Yeah, that. It's never fun to deal with them.” Quickly, she signed to him _-Dad is worried for you-_ and Duke snorted. Cass added, _-Me too-_ and he smiled.

Then signed himself, _-Thank you, sis-_ , to her. “I'm gonna be okay,” Duke said aloud.

“I hope so,” mumbled Bruce to himself – they all heard him perfectly, though. “If you need anything, call me, or Alfred, or one of your siblings, or even Leslie if you need to, alright?”

Duke smiled innocently. He felt like playing with fire today. “Not Julia?”

Bruce sighed and very obviously rolled his eyes. Alfred hid a smile behind him.

“Yes, I suppose you can call Julia, too,” agreed Bruce reluctantly.

Cass, always fearless, laughed right at her father's face.

Bruce only sighed more. “Why do you all love Julia more than me?” he complained.

“Because she's fun,” both Duke and Cassandra answered immediately. It was a common fact, after all; Julia was the fun aunt, Kate the badass aunt, and Bruce was just the Dad.

“I can be fun too,” protested Bruce despite his daughter's chuckles.

“Please, Master Bruce, do refrain yourself from proving so. I believe it is time for Master Duke to leave for school.”

Bruce's offended face was truly a work of art. Duke would have to thank Alfred for it later.

.

.

.

Cassandra jumped inside of the car just before Bruce started the engine. She sat beside Duke, in the back seat, like she owned the place. (Which wasn't true. Her car wasn't this one. Cass was an awful driver, by the way. Duke wasn't even sure she had her driver's license.)

It startled Bruce, so her and Duke shared a laugh, and Bruce grumbled some more. The drive to school was quiet. Somehow, Cass managed to paint Duke's nails during it – but only the ones on his broken arm, of course. She chose a bright yellow with sparkles in it, and did them perfectly – he had a very pretty hand, now. He had to make a note to himself to ask her to do his other hand when he got back from school.

The nail paint was still drying when Bruce pulled into the school's parking. “Do you want me to come with you?” he asked while shutting down the engine.

Duke shrugged. He really had no idea on the question – either way was fine by him.

“I'm going,” said Cassandra, inflexible.

“Alright.”

Cass opened the door for him, and even carried his school bag – it was very nice but also kind of weird. Even if he liked the care – and would never say it to his siblings, he wasn't stupid, they would take advantage of that _way too much_ – Cass wasn't one to act like that on a normal day. She hadn't been like that when Tim had been hurt last time – and everyone knew her and Tim were pretty close. He felt like there was something more behind this – and he already had an idea what.

“You know that what happened wasn't your fault, right?” said Duke quietly when they stopped in front of the gates. He had the feeling that Cass was feeling guilty for his injury – something he vehemently disagreed with.

“I should have...” started Cass. “I should have been able to help you. To catch you.” She frowned, not directly looking at him; her gaze was on their feet, and her shoulders were tense.

“It's still not your fault. You couldn't have known.” Cass obviously wasn't accepting it, so he pushed on. “Listen, Cass, I love you and all, and you _are_ a badass, but you can't be everywhere and save everyone. And, like... I accepted that being injured was a risk when I started doing all of this. I do my best for it not to happen, and I know you guys are doing your best to protect me... But we're all humans. Sometimes, we fail.”

His sister sighed. She raised her gaze to look at him, now, and started signing. _-I don't like seeing you hurt.-_

_-It goes both ways,-_ answered Duke. _-It's because we care.-_

Cassandra smiled, then. “I love you, little brother.”

He opened his arm to hug her, and she melted into his embrace, careful of his cast. “I love you too, Cass.”

Duke let go of her quickly; he still had to go to school.

“I'll see you this afternoon,” she said, and Duke grinned.

“Sure. You still need to do my other hand, after all.” He waved his free, un-broken arm at her, and Cass laughed.

Duke grinned even more. He was looking forward to it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it!! :D
> 
> So now I'm adding Cass and Duke at the list of characters relationship I want to write more. You're welcome.
> 
> Tomorrow it's Fast Food :D
> 
> Take care, a lot of love for you! :heart:


End file.
